RIL profit seen down, ONGC may rise: Reuters Poll

Energy major Reliance Industries, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, is expected to report its second successive drop in quarterly profit, as refining margins are seen slipping to around $6 a barrel from $6.8 in the December quarter, and as gas output from its offshore fields slows further.

State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp, the country's biggest oil producer, is likely to post a 28 percent rise in March quarter net profit, but a higher share of subsidy burden due to government-set fuel prices is expected to take the shine off gains from higher crude oil prices.

(Reporting by Prashant Mehra in MUMBAI; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)

MUMBAI State Bank of India has agreed to sell a 3.9 percent stake in its life insurance arm to affiliates of KKR and Temasek for 17.94 billion rupees ($266 million), the nation's biggest lender said on Friday.